[War] Spain: Breaking The Silence

[Iain]

"Breaking The Silence"

Prime Minister Elena Garcia Rodriguez
Spain
4th August 2014

=====================================

".and now they've both expelled all diplomats and the other's citizens?"

Elena sighed from the back seat of a chauffeur-driven Mercedes dressed in
the traditional power suit and polystyrene cup of tea in hand. She had
almost spilt it when her PA had begun her briefing; the Canada-China
situation was beginning to get ridiculous. Spain had chosen to remain quiet
on the matter for the time being, whilst there was no love lost with the
Chinese in recent years and Spanish-Canadian relations had been rather warm
there had been talk of this perhaps being the catalyst for a reversal in
these policies. 

And the timing was horrendous. She was meant to be heading to Canada at the
end of the week and now with the death of the Chinese first gentleman she
had shelved that to be free to attend the funeral. Then when the jail breaks
had happened and Canada admitted responsibility there had been calls for the
Spanish Government to side with China due to the loss of life involved and
the seeming illegality of it all. Things just weren't that simple, they
never were and so they had said nothing, done nothing. Now with the visits
to both countries fast approaching she just wasn't sure which side of the
fence to place herself, if she came off it at all.

But this escalation of events with nothing short of stupid, not that she
would dare to word it like that in public. She was too well trained a
diplomat and perhaps that was her biggest flaw. It was even beginning to
look reminiscent of the makings of war, and that worried Elena, it worried
her a lot. Perhaps Anastasia Danesti had the right idea - burying her head
in the sand was becoming appealing.

"Maria, I'm sorry to do this again but can you push back my appointments for
this morning and call an emergency Cabinet meeting ASAP."

As her PA got out the mobile phone that was stuck to her face most of the
day without a hint of a grumble Elena sipped on her tea. It was beginning to
get to the horrid lukewarm stage so she took a few large gulps to finish it
and lent further back against the seat, it was going to be one of those
days. She considered for a moment having the driver turn around and going
back to her bed. Things were much simpler in there.

===========================

Prime Minister Rodriguez sat at the head of the table in the cabinet office,
fresh warm tea in an actual china cup sat before her. The irony of using a
china cup at this meeting was not lost on her. The meeting had been in
progress for a half-hour now, well had been in lack of progress to be more
accurate.

It was unanimous among her Council of Ministers that the situation needed to
be addressed but there had been very split views on what Spain should do, if
anything. These ranged from doing nothing to issuing a statement to further
UN proposals and everything between. Elena had been very clear that doing
nothing was not an option, not with the 'Spain to the forefront' plan and
the stability of more or less the entire globe threatened. So it was agreed
that words were the best first step but what should be said and how was now
under contention.

The hair-splitting and paraphrasing had become rather tedious and Elena had
actually phased our five minutes ago when her tea arrived. Now she brought
herself back to the room, took a gulp of tea and decided to flat out
interrupt their bickering.

"Alright, that's enough!" She sat forward as they quietened themselves. "Now
let's get the basics sorted out before we decide how to phrase our
declaration of war or whatever your ladies and gents have gotten this thing
up to by now. Are we calling a press conference, doing a live broadcast or
simply issuing a statement?"

"Well I think a statement is the best way forward, then we don't need to
worry about tone, body language et cetera being misrepresented." The Justice
Minister had been involved in a similar incident two years back and made
this statement as standard when the media were mentioned.

"I disagree, if we really want to get out there and be seen to be involved
we need our faces and voices on televisions. That is where most people get
their ideas about the world these days." Someone else from a similar
background to Elena, Paolo Torres the Minister for Foreign Affairs spoke up.

"I agree with Paolo," Elena looked around and could see the 'as always'
expression cross several faces in the room. "And I think we should make a
broadcast, this situation is difficult enough without being drawn into
questions in a press-conference situation."

Her Deputy cleared his throat. "So that leaves the question whether you want
me to do this post-meeting as Cabinet spokesperson or whether you should do
this yourself, Prime Minister. I think probably the latter is called for
given the special circumstances. All in favour?"

There was a general shout of agreement in response.

"In that case, people, the wording will be left to myself and my speech
writers. Let's just stick to the content..."

=======================

"Citizens of Spain and the world. I come before you as Prime Minister and
representative of the Spanish people to break our silence over the situation
unfolded internationally between China, Canada and the United States. Whilst
Spanish citizens were not involved in the incident, the effect that the
actions currently being taken could potentially have upon global affairs has
led us to involve ourselves.

"Whilst we recognise that the actions taken against Chinese civilian forces
by Canadian parties are at the very least of questionable legality, we
cannot openly condemn these actions as war crimes or terrorism. Firstly, no
state of war exists between these nations and secondly these were not
generalised attacks but specifically targeted on the release of certain
individuals. We do however support China and her President in calling for an
apology from the Canadian government in a public forum and will co-operate
in any way possible with any investigation into the matter. 

"Despite failed attempts at negotiation being cited by my Canadian
counterpart, Prime Minister McColl, the use of force should never have been
knowingly permitted. It is therefore also my intention to instruct our
ambassador at the UN to support any reasonable sanctions against Canada for
allowing this incident to occur. We suggest this may include questions
regarding their membership of the security council given that international
security and stability has been affected negatively by their actions.

"We extend our sympathies to the citizens of both nations that lost family
and friends in this incident and recognise their need and entitlement to
compensation for the unnecessary loss of life. Spain calls for Canada to
also recognise this fact and to reflect on their own citizens whom lost
someone during the incident.

"We also urge both Canada and China to re-open the lines of communication
and find a direct and diplomatic solution to this unfortunate matter. The
expulsion of diplomats and citizens from each country has only served to
escalate the situation and will undoubtedly affect these citizens,
international relations and international economics. On this matter, our
embassies in both Beijing and Ottawa are willing to hear cases for temporary
asylum from potential deportees, diplomats and their staff or any other
citizens affected by these actions.

"Spain will make every attempt to ensure a speedy, peaceful and fair
resolution to this matter. We urge other governments to do the same.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your time. Viva Espagna."

=================================

Actions:
1) Bit of character development
2) State Spain's position on the matter
3) Support an amended UN resolution against Canada:
	a) Public apology from Canadian government to China
	b) Sanctions against Canada
	c) Review of Canada's membership of the security council
	d) Compensation to those affected
4) Condemn Canada's methods for securing the release of their citizens
5) Extend sympathy to all who lost someone
6) Urge re-opening of Embassies and direct lines of communication
7) Instruct Spanish Embassies in both countries to hear all cases for
temporary asylum
8) Offer support/co-operation in any investigation
9) Urge a return to stability ASAP